"God’s ultimate goal in your life on earth is not comfort, but character
development. He wants you to grow up spiritually. Becoming like Christ does
not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created
your uniqueness, so He certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christ-likeness
is all about transforming your character, not your personality."

"The stories that sustain a spirituality of imperfection are
wisdom-stories. They follow a temporal format, describing ‘what we used to be
like, what happened, and what we are now.’ Such stories, however, can also do
more: The sequential format makes it possible for other people’s stories to
become a part of ‘my’ story. Sometimes, for example, hearing another’s story
can occasion profound change."

"Daily habits of kindness or coldness, of sharing or greed, play out in
those crucial situations where values are quickly…called for and must be acted
on immediately. If we fill our lives with goodness, when we are shaken we will
overflow with good things. If we fill our lives with harshness, judgment and
cruelty, when shaken we will overflow with such ugliness. Daily we prepare for
the crises that will test our values. May we build on foundations of
goodness."

"There are degrees to faith. At one stage of Christian experience we cannot
believe unless we have some sign or some great manifestation of feeling. We
feel our fleece, like Gideon, and if it is wet we are willing to trust God.
This may be true faith, but it is imperfect. It always looks for feeling or
some token besides the Word of God. It marks quite an advance in faith when we
trust God without feelings. It is blessed to believe without having any
emotion.

There is a third stage of faith which even transcends that of Gideon and
his fleece. The first phase of faith believes when there are favorable
emotions, the second believes when there is the absence of feeling, but this
third form of faith believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions,
appearances, people, and human reason all urge to the contrary.…

May God give us faith to fully trust His Word though everything else
witness the other way."

"The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things
that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The
content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you
become. Your integrity is your destiny—it is the light that guides your way."

While traveling, a tourist noticed a curious shrub growing near the
roadside. His companion informed him that the local people call it the
wait-a-bit bush. Stepping closer to inspect it more closely, his clothes
touched it, and he found himself snared by thorns which resembled fish hooks.
The more he struggled to free himself, the more he became entangled by its
barbs. Finally he had to rely on his companion to release him from the
hopeless situation.

There are many wait-a-bit bushes along the road of life. Men and
women can easily be hooked by some evil habit, or sinful influences. They can
become overly concerned with material goals which can entangle their life and
detain them from answering the all-important questions of life.

Suppose you are called up to a table and are blindfolded. Suppose a bucket
is placed in front of you and you are asked if it is empty or full of water.

What are three ways you can learn the answer to that question without
removing the blindfold?

One way is to reach into the bucket and feel if there is water in it. In
other words, you can experience firsthand if the bucket is full or empty. This
way of learning is called experiencing. It’s knowledge that we acquire by our
senses.

A second way to learn if the bucket contains water or not is to drop an
object, like a pebble, into it. If the pebble hits the bottom of the bucket
with a loud thud or ringing sound, you know the bucket is empty. On the other
hand, if the pebble hits with a splash, you know the bucket contains water.
This way of acquiring knowledge is called reasoning.

A third way to learn if the bucket contains water is to ask someone you
trust. The person could look into the bucket and tell you if it has water in
it. This way of learning is called believing. Its knowledge that we acquire by
faith.

Experiencing, reasoning, believing—these are the three ways
we acquire knowledge in this life.